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Finding/Owning French Property
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 01/04/2008, 21:17
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sweet 17
Joined on 05/08/2006
charente maritime
Posts 2,407
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Re: Selling our house in France
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Interesting and thanks for posting. Will remember your post when our time comes to go through it all again. Just don't want to bring more euros over at present because of the dire exchange rate but I am more or less settled on moving (if that isn't too much of a contradiction in terms)!
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02/04/2008, 23:37
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ErnieY
 
Joined on 05/12/2006
Nr Prayssac (Lot)
Posts 3,551
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Re: Selling our house in France
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Seems to be a divisive topic ![Smile [:)]](/cs/images/emotions/smile.gif)
In the end there is no right or wrong way, it's what you feel comfortable with and that's based on what you know of how the system works, the specific circumstances of a transaction, and crucially, if you can read and understand French or have a competant translator on hand.
We used a (French) English lawyer mainly because there were some questions about a disputed servitude but if it had not been for that we would have been content to go with the Notaire (who spoke bizarre but perfectly understandable English) with our English agent acting as translator as neccessary. It did cost a fair bit though and to be honest I'm still undecided whether it was money well spent or not ![Confused [8-)]](/cs/images/emotions/confused.gif)
I don't believe it is the Notaires job to suggest clauses for the CdV. Again its down to you as the buyer to:
A. know that you can insert them in the first place and
B. which ones to insert
and this is where a 3rd party may come into play, be they French or English.
My doctor said one drink per day, I can live with that !
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03/04/2008, 7:45
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P2
Joined on 13/09/2006
Posts 226
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Re: Selling our house in France
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 sweet 17 wrote: | |
Darnsarf, I wasn't going to post on this thread but I want you to know that we also appointed our own UK solicitor who is an avocat in France. Unfortunately, the "translator", introduced to us by our sellers, was less than useless. A sort of running warfare went on between our English solicitor and the translator and I was in the midst of it all.
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Sweet 17 I do not think that I would be happy using a UK solicitor who is an avocat in France who needs a translator to translate the documents.
Legalise (or is it only UK legalise) is quite difficult and perhaps needs an experienced legal mind to translate. Potential for the blame game - anything goes wrong the solicitor and translator blame one another whilst you sit on the sidelines.
Paul
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03/04/2008, 10:04
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P-D de Rouffignac
Joined on 14/03/2007
Posts 92
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Re: Selling our house in France
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Personally I have never found it particularly helpful to employ a second notaire or (UK based) solicitor when completing a French property transaction, either for myself or when advising clients/friends. Unless they are local to the area where you are intending to buy a property, at best they can only translate/interpret the documentation based on secondhand information, supplied by the parties to the transaction and their advisors.
What I have found most useful is on-the-spot advice from local people - a firm of notaires I use has five partners who are the grandchildren of the original founders (the practice was established 50 years ago) and two firms of estate agents, likewise each founded over 50 years ago, and until recently still managed by the original owners.
The sort of assistance I have had locally from these people includes a realistic assessment of local property values (how else do you know you are paying a fair price?) and in a recent transaction, complex negotiation with the DDE and the mairie over planning consents (and wording the appropriate suspensive clauses as a result). Another advantage is speed - a recent transaction took just six weeks and two days to complete, even though we had a three week delay by the vendor returning the signed compromis, due a to German postal strike. This was particularly important for the buyers who had sold up in the UK and were living in a rented villa during their property search.
I can understand that uncertainty and lack of familiarity with the French legal system may influence some people to seek 'external' advice but I would question its value for the above reasons.
Peter-Danton de Rouffignac
www.francemediterraneanproperty.com
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03/04/2008, 10:42
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cooperlola
Joined on 05/05/2006
72 - Sarthe - home of les 24 heures du Mans
Posts 6,408
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Re: Selling our house in France
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People should do what they feel comfortable with, and - to some extent - what they can afford!
I met our sellers' notaire on my own and - as with so many things in life - ultimately had to trust my own instincts about him. He seemed to me to be a straightforward and competent person, and so he proved to be. We had a translator at the signing (as my o/h's French isn't that great) and he had to sign all the documents to confirm that he had explained all the details to us. Thus, I guess, we could have had some comeback at him if we'd felt the translator had mislead us in any way.
The first house we ever bought in the UK was an experience which has made me think that UK solicitors (however apparently competent in their own field) aren't always so great either. When we went to sign the contract, the solicitor said to us: "I haven't actually read this, but they're all much the same. Sign here..." As you can imagine, for a young couple buying their first ever home this was not reassuring! British or French, there are good and bad advocates/solicitors/ notaires etc everywhere. The trick is to be able to spot the good ones.
Healthcare Issues Site
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28/04/2008, 10:00
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Sunday Driver
Joined on 07/10/2005
Deux Sevres (79)
Posts 2,916
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Re: Selling our house in France
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There's nothing special about the Brits buying houses in France - the processes are exactly the same as for the French.
In terms of things like tax and inheritance law, the average Frenchman probably knows less about this than we do on this forum, so in common with almost everyone else in France, he relies on his notaire for proper legal advice to optimise his own situation.
The only difference is that most Brits don't speak the language, so if the notaire cannot provide the necessary information in English, then a translation service is a must. The only real issue is whether appointing a UK/France specialist solicitor to pass on the same information in English represents better value for money than appointing a straightforward translator.
Waddya mean it's only Saturday......
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France Forum » Moving » Finding/Owning ... » Re: Selling our house in France
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